Blade Rubber Blog, Tips and Techniques

This is an easy but tricky technique; with a little practice and creativity the results are stunning - even spectacular. There are several methods but one with re-inkers and dye inks and another using dye ink pads are the easiest and best.

With so much beautiful parchment and vellum on offer it can be a problem deciding how to use these lovely products to enhance and compliment stamping crafts. Having learnt the techniques for cards you will soon adapt these for making ornaments, party favours, lampshades and luminaries for the home.

At one time Metal, foil and gold leaf were easily defined. Metal was the thick stuff in sheets, foil was wrapped around sweets and gold leaf was the mysterious shiny finish on some antique frames and mirrors! Simplistic but not far from the truth.
Things are different now with an increasing range of easy-to-use materials available for crafters as well as the traditional (sometimes better) products.

It's hard to believe that ordinary household bleach applied to plain card can produce such a wonderful rainbow of colours. Not all card bleaches to reveal layers of unexpected hues depending on how much bleach is used. Teamed with varnish, tea dye varnish in particular, plus a few other colouring materials outstanding effects and hues can be achieved with just a few simple techniques.

The lustre of precious, natural pearl has been reproduced for centuries using crushed shell and mica.
Crafters have the advantage of an endless supply of high quality colouring products and cardstock to experiment with. There is something magical about the sheen of pastel and jewel pearl tones; paper and Card, Inkpads, pearlescent paints and powders, mediums, glues etc, the list goes on.